Steve Jobs Calls In Sick

Apple CEO and pancreatic cancer survivor Steve Jobs announced he’s taking a medical leave of absence. He’ll retain his title and remain involved in major decisions, but the COO will take over day-to-day operations.

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

Jobs took a similar leaves in 2004, when he battled cancer, and 2009, when he underwent a liver transplant.

The Steve Jobs persona is a major part of what drives the Apple brand. If you’re an Apple devotee, what does it mean to you that he’s not hands-on?

I agree. I am still using the iPhone 3G, and while I am noticing some applications that do not work on the 3G or without upgrading to iOS 4, I am fine with it. I am trying to hold out until June when the next iPhone is roumered to be announced.

My earlier statement represents the common belief the Apple users have to have the latest and the greatest…although I would not consider myself a typical Apple Fan boy as all of my computers are Windows machines.

And people would stop making fun of Apple and Jobs if they admitted as such. But the “you’re holding it wrong” style comments from Jobs makes it pretty much a requirement to make fun of them and Apple Fanboys/girls when they demand that their products are perfect.

I think as far as investors are concerned, tey only need to know the succession plan, which includes Tim Cook. Apple, likely has several years of development projects in the pipeline. Some actually being developed, some waiting in the wings until the technology is available to make the product, so a short term leave of absence will have minimal impact on the operation of the company. The true test will be once Steve retires, and what will the company do in the long term. Was Steve able to impart his design sense into his designers and management team? If so, the company should continue to flourish long after his departure, however if he was not able to teach the team what is in his head, then that will likely mark the end of the company as we know it today.

Steve’s health is irrelevant to investors, the succession plan and what training has gone on is all they need to know.

I love apple and will continue to support them with or without Jobs. If he is sick, I think he should take some time to worry about his health, I full confidence that Cook can do a great job if the public will give him a chance.

Really? The announcement already affected the stock price on the European markets yesterday. The same can potentially happen in the US, especially since Apple is personality-driven in some aspects, and that alone would certainly have a consumer-related effect.

And, as coincidence would have it, the day after Dear Leader takes a medical leave — on a holiday, let’s add — Apple’s earnings call shows the company’s doing better than ever. Methinks you should hold that APPL stock if you’re so lucky enough to have such.

Apple makes products that consumers buy. Apple may be affected by Jobs not being there, in one way or another, which would in turn affect the products and product support from Apple. Consumers are affected by the changes to the product and product support.

Job’s wouldn’t stand for such nonsense.. He’d manage to convince Satan that he’s holding his pitchfork wrong and he’d have to purchase an Apple branded carrying case, wait for the next model revision, or purchase an Android branded pitchfork if he insists on being such a simpleton.

Exactly. Regardless of your feelings for the company, it’s not as if he’s some kind of awful, horrible person who kicks puppies and dips kittens into barbecue sauce before throwing them to a pack of hungry wolves or anything. It’s shameful to wish harm on him.

Apple stock went up 70% last time that Tim Cook took over for Jobs. I think that Apple needs to distance itself from Jobs as the face of the company and once that happens the stock wont be taking the hit that its taking right now, though the stock is up over ten dollars from the low.

I don’t wish Jobs or anyone ill, but most folks don’t have the luxury of taking medical leave 3 times in 7 or 8 years. The average person would lose their livelihood and end up broke over it. So I think that’s where some of the snark might be coming from

I think it depends on your employer and what skills you bring to the table. While no single person is impossible to replace in a company, there are some people that are DIFFICULT to replace. I have known a few people who had severe medical issues and took repeated medical leaves of absence. Their employer did what they could to support the employee and kept their position open and simply delegated some of the responsibilities of that person to other staff and/or brought in additional staff to assist. Sadly, both people lost their medical battles, and the employer had to hire new staff to permanently replace the employee. While the person was not impossible to replace, it took the skills of 3-4 people to match what one person had.

I know when I left a job, my employer had to distribute all of the jobs that I was doing on to 5 different people, not because I was doing the work of 5 people, but because I had 5 very unique skill sets that they were not able to find in one person.